PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU - Brodersen, Craig R.
AU - McElrone, Andrew J.
AU - Choat, Brendan
AU - Matthews, Mark A.
AU - Shackel, Kenneth A.
TI - The Dynamics of Embolism Repair in Xylem: In Vivo Visualizations Using High-Resolution Computed Tomography
AID - 10.1104/pp.110.162396
DP - 2010 Nov 01
TA - Plant Physiology
PG - 1088--1095
VI - 154
IP - 3
4099 - http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/154/3/1088.short
4100 - http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/154/3/1088.full
SO - Plant Physiol.2010 Nov 01; 154
AB - Water moves through plants under tension and in a thermodynamically metastable state, leaving the nonliving vessels that transport this water vulnerable to blockage by gas embolisms. Failure to reestablish flow in embolized vessels can lead to systemic loss of hydraulic conductivity and ultimately death. Most plants have developed a mechanism to restore vessel functionality by refilling embolized vessels, but the details of this process in vessel networks under tension have remained unclear for decades. Here we present, to our knowledge, the first in vivo visualization and quantification of the refilling process for any species using high-resolution x-ray computed tomography. Successful vessel refilling in grapevine (Vitis vinifera) was dependent on water influx from surrounding living tissue at a rate of 6 × 10−4 μm s−1, with individual droplets expanding over time, filling vessels, and forcing the dissolution of entrapped gas. Both filling and draining processes could be observed in the same vessel, indicating that successful refilling requires hydraulic isolation from tensions that would otherwise prevent embolism repair. Our study demonstrates that despite the presence of tensions in the bulk xylem, plants are able to restore hydraulic conductivity in the xylem.